Stellar Bancorp, Inc. (STEL)

Stellar Bancorp, Inc. was a bank holding company headquartered in Houston, Texas, and the parent of Stellar Bank. It was formed on October 1, 2022 through the merger of Allegiance Bancshares, Inc. and CBTX, Inc., two Houston-area banking companies. The combined company took the Stellar name and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol STEL.

The two predecessors had different histories. Allegiance Bancshares was organized in 2007 and grew into a commercial bank serving small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and individuals in Houston and the surrounding region. CBTX was the holding company of CommunityBank of Texas and operated in the Houston and Beaumont areas and in other East Texas markets.

Stellar offered a typical range of commercial banking services. Deposit products included checking, money market, savings and time deposit accounts, and its loan portfolio consisted of commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans, construction and land development loans, residential mortgage loans and consumer loans. It also provided treasury management, wire transfer, card and digital banking services through branches in Texas.

Stellar operated as one of the larger Texas-based regional banks that remained independent, with assets in the range of about eleven to twelve billion dollars. Like other mid-sized banks, it faced pressure from higher funding costs, unrealized losses on securities and the benefits of scale in technology and compliance spending.

In January 2026, Stellar agreed to merge with Prosperity Bancshares, Inc., a Houston-based bank holding company listed on the NYSE under the symbol PB. Under the agreement, each share of Stellar common stock would be converted into 0.3803 shares of Prosperity common stock plus $11.36 in cash, with cash paid in place of fractional shares.

Before the closing, Stellar sold roughly $466 million of investment securities. The transaction closed on or about July 1, 2026, and two members of Stellar's board, Robert R. Franklin, Jr. and Joseph B. Swinbank, joined the Prosperity board. Restricted stock vested, performance units were settled and in-the-money options were cashed out under the merger terms.

Stellar's NYSE listing ended with the completion of the merger, and a Form 25 was filed with the SEC on July 1, 2026. Stellar stated that it would deregister its common stock, and former holders now hold Prosperity shares and cash.